Blistering 61! Justin Thomas ties course record, tops major-winning field at RBC Heritage
For 51 weeks a year the state’s official bird is the Carolina Wren but in the middle of this April it became a flock of birdies.
Justin Thomas tied the Harbour Town Golf Links course record during the first round Thursday by carding eleven birdies including ones while he was on a heater at #12, #13, #15, #16 and #17 to close out the round at 61 (-10) and take a three-stroke lead over last year’s RBC Heritage Tournament champion Scottie Scheffler (-7) and Russell Henley. Thomas’ only blemish came on the par 4, 453-yard #10 where his tee ball ended up in the left rough and he missed a short putt from the left side of the hole and had to put a bogie 5 on the card.
The leaderboard reads like a who’s who of major tournament winners with six of the top nine players having won major championships recently in their careers. In addition to Thomas and Scheffler, the list includes Wyndham Clark (2023 U.S. Open), Matt Fitzpatrick (2022 U.S. Open), Gary Woodland (2019 U.S. Open) and Savannah’s hometown player Brian Harman (2023 Open Championship).
The top three players were a combined 24 under par for their rounds on the Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus designed course. The inaugural playing of the tournament in 1969 was won by the legendary Arnold Palmer when he was 40.
Conditions were perfect for the first round and are expected to stay calm for the remaining three days of the tournament. Given the firm and fast conditions the course is playing, only a dozen of the 72 players in this no-cut “signature” event ended their round over par.
Who is the player they call “JT”
Thomas, born in Louisville and an alumnae from the University of Alabama, has 15 career wins including winning the PGA Championship twice. He has four top ten finishes in the 2025 season and is looking for his first trophy of the year. He’s been close twice this year with solo second place finishes at both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Valspar Championship. He currently sits at eighth on the Official World Golf Rankings and is eleventh in the FedEXCup standings. He lives in the Jupiter, Florida area with his wife Jillian and daughter Molly.
Local player in contention
A newcomer to the tournament this year is Beaufort County resident Brian Campbell who was briefly in second place before Thomas and Sheffler embarked on torching the course. He finished his round in a tie for fifth place with a 66, five strokes off the pace set by Thomas. After making thee birdies in the first five holes, Campbell looked like he may take the low round into the clubhouse but a bogie on #6 and only three birdies on the back nine pushed him out of the top two places.
Other notable scores from previous major winners
- Jordan Spieth: -4
- Justin Rose -4
- Adam Scott -3
- Shane Lowry: -3
- Jason Day: -3
- Xander Schauffele: -2
- Collin Morikawa: - 2
Final word
For everyone wondering what kind of pace Thomas needs to stay on to break the four-day tournament record, Web Simpson shot a -22, 262 on his way to victory in 2020.
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 6:19 PM.